U.S. patent application number 11/749705 was filed with the patent office on 2007-09-13 for method and apparatus for providing enhanced communication capability for mobile devices on a virtual private network.
This patent application is currently assigned to GENESYS TELECOMMUNICATIONS LABORATORIES, INC.. Invention is credited to Stanford Wayne Lockhart.
Application Number | 20070213073 11/749705 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 26845135 |
Filed Date | 2007-09-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070213073 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lockhart; Stanford Wayne |
September 13, 2007 |
Method and Apparatus for Providing Enhanced Communication
Capability for Mobile Devices on a Virtual Private Network
Abstract
A communication system has a cellular telephony interface in
individual ones of two or more mobile vehicles, a position
determination system in individual ones of the mobile vehicles, a
network of cellular base stations coupled to the mobile vehicles,
individual base stations coupled to one or both of a
packet-switched or a line-switched telephony system, a router
coupled to the base stations and enabled to retrieve GPS position
from the telephony events, and a plurality of service centers
coupled to one or both of the telephony systems. Telephony events
from individual ones of the mobile vehicles are routed according to
position reported by the position determination system.
Inventors: |
Lockhart; Stanford Wayne;
(Saint John, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CENTRAL COAST PATENT AGENCY, INC
3 HANGAR WAY SUITE D
WATSONVILLE
CA
95076
US
|
Assignee: |
GENESYS TELECOMMUNICATIONS
LABORATORIES, INC.
2001 Junipero Serra Blvd.
Daly City
CA
94014
|
Family ID: |
26845135 |
Appl. No.: |
11/749705 |
Filed: |
May 16, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11286811 |
Nov 22, 2005 |
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11749705 |
May 16, 2007 |
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10323450 |
Dec 17, 2002 |
6987977 |
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11286811 |
Nov 22, 2005 |
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09452768 |
Dec 1, 1999 |
6496702 |
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10323450 |
Dec 17, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
455/456.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 3/42357 20130101;
H04W 64/00 20130101; H04M 3/42042 20130101; H04W 76/10 20180201;
H04W 88/08 20130101; H04M 2242/30 20130101; H04W 4/00 20130101;
H04W 84/042 20130101; H04W 76/20 20180201; H04W 84/10 20130101;
H04W 4/029 20180201; H04W 4/24 20130101; H04L 67/18 20130101; H04W
84/16 20130101; G07C 5/008 20130101; H04W 4/02 20130101; G08G 1/20
20130101; H04W 8/265 20130101; H04W 92/02 20130101; H04M 3/42348
20130101; H04W 40/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/456.1 |
International
Class: |
H04Q 7/20 20060101
H04Q007/20 |
Claims
1. A communication system comprising: a cellular telephony
interface in individual ones of two or more mobile vehicles; a
position determination system in individual ones of the mobile
vehicles; a network of cellular base stations coupled to the mobile
vehicles, individual base stations coupled to one or both of a
packet-switched or a line-switched telephony system; a router
coupled to the base stations and enabled to retrieve GPS position
from the telephony events; and a plurality of service centers
coupled to one or both of the telephony systems; wherein telephony
events from individual ones of the mobile vehicles are routed
according to position reported by the position determination
system.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present case is a continuation of copending application
Ser. No. 11/286,811. Application Ser. No. 11/286,811 is a
continuation of application Ser. No. 10/323,450, now U.S. Pat. No.
6,987,977, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.
09/452,768, filed Dec. 1, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,496,702. The
entire disclosure of each of these applications is incorporated
herein by reference, and priority is claimed to the filing date for
the disclosure of each of these applications, including Dec. 1,
1999 of application Ser. No. 09/452,768.
[0002] The entire disclosure of copending application Ser. No.
11/456,796 is incorporated herein by reference. Application Ser.
No. 11/456,796 is a continuation of application Ser. No.
10/899,528, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,079,641, which is a continuation of
application Ser. No. 09/912,770, filed Jul. 24, 2001, now U.S. Pat.
No. 6,788,779. The entire disclosure of each of these applications
is incorporated herein by reference, and priority is claimed to the
filing date for the first disclosure of each of these applications,
including Jul. 24, 2001 of application Ser. No. 09/912,770.
[0003] The entire disclosure of copending application Ser. No.
11/388,089 is incorporated herein by reference. Application Ser.
No. 11/388,089 is a continuation of application Ser. No.
09/661,181, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,020,264, which is a continuation of
application Ser. No. 09/443,057, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,360, which
is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/968,825, now U.S. Pat.
No. 6,005,931, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser.
No. 08/869,815, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,074, which is a
continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/802,667, now U.S.
Pat. No. 6,201,863, which is a continuation-in-part of application
Ser. No. 08/797,420, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,291, filed Feb. 10,
1997. The entire disclosure of each of these applications is
incorporated herein by reference, and priority is claimed to the
filing date for the first disclosure of each of these applications,
including Feb. 10, 1997 of application Ser. No. 08/797,420.
[0004] The entire disclosure of copending application Ser. No.
10/406,347 is incorporated herein by reference, and priority is
claimed to the filing date of Apr. 2, 2003 for the disclosure.
[0005] The entire disclosure of copending application Ser. No.
10/229,428 is incorporated herein by reference. Application Ser.
No. 10/229,428 is a continuation of application Ser. No.
09/335,423, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,020,264. The entire disclosure of
each of these applications is incorporated herein by reference, and
priority is claimed to the filing date for the first disclosure of
each of these applications, including Jun. 17, 1999 of application
Ser. No. 09/335,423.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0006] 1. Field of the Invention
[0007] The present invention is in the field of telephony
communication as it pertains to mobile devices or units operating
on a private network and pertains more particularly to methods and
apparatus for enhancing communication capability, data transfer
capability, and increasing the number of mobile devices that can
successfully operate on a communication-center facilitated virtual
private network (VPN).
[0008] 2. Description of Related Art
[0009] The field of telephony communication has grown more diverse
and flexible. Call-in centers that once were restricted to
connection-oriented switched telephony (COST) are now employing
computer-simulated telephony techniques generally referred to as
data network telephony (DNT). Call-in centers that are enhanced
with DNT and multimedia capability more appropriately termed
communication centers in the art. This is due to the broad range of
telephony and data transfer capabilities that are routinely
practiced within or facilitated by such centers.
[0010] Communication centers are often used by enterprises to
accomplish cellular communication links with fleets of vehicles
having wireless communication devices installed therein for
receiving instruction and responding back to personnel operating
within the center, such as dispatchers, sales agents and so on.
There are a variety of existing techniques used by communication
centers today to track, control and support fleets of vehicles.
[0011] Services such as Omnitracs.TM. operated by Qualcomm and
On-Star.TM. operated by General Motors Corp. (GM) use the
well-known cellular telephone infrastructure and the global
positioning system (GPS) to track and support vehicles in the
field. Services offered include such as air bag deployment
notification, remote door unlocking, road-side service, vehicle
theft notification, and so on. In some cases device-equipped
vehicles are owned and operated by a single entity that also
provides the service. In some cases vehicles are owned
individually, or in small groups and are subscribed to a
service.
[0012] A commonality among all of these types of service
communication systems is that users (i.e. drivers of subscribed
vehicles) may need to be periodically tracked by the system to be
given logistics support, help or advice at some point during a
trip. In some cases tracking is employed for reporting purposes to
customers of the service business, such as with some trucking
companies and the like. The above-described systems target mostly
high-end vehicles or commercial fleets as primary targets, due to
the higher value and traffic they incur.
[0013] One problem with the infrastructure associated with the
above-described services is that communication with the volume of
serviced cars or commercial fleet of vehicles is typically
implemented by a single communication center. As a result the
systems are limited to a relatively small volume vehicles depending
on the nature of the service. Such a communication center, as is
known in the art, simply cannot handle a really large volume, such
as perhaps a million vehicles or more.
[0014] The technologies (GPS and cellular services) that support
the above-described services are continually being developed and
made available over ever-increasing geographic regions. Therefore,
it is desirable to provide similar services to a much larger
customer base than the currently limited numbers serviced by
today's largest system/infrastructures. As previously described, a
single communications center cannot handle the desired volume. For
example, a service base of a million users or more would logically
encompass mostly "normal citizens" rather than professional drivers
due to shear volume. In this regard, services offered would have to
be more diversified among users instead of being standardized as
with a fleet of company-owned service vehicles.
[0015] An unacceptable communication load would result in any
single communication center. Moreover, other problems would arise
from an overload of users interacting with a center such as
increased costs of long-distance routing, and lack of "local
knowledge" required to effect many desired and marketable
services.
[0016] What is clearly needed is a method and apparatus that
enables efficient data management and routing of service events to
and from a large volume of tracked vehicles maintaining wireless
communication devices, wherein specific interaction and routing
does not have to be performed in or facilitated by one single
communication center. Such a system would allow a single service to
provide cost-effective, mainstream services to millions
subscribers.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0017] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention a service
communication system for mobile vehicles is provided, comprising a
cellular telephony interface in individual ones of the mobile
vehicles, for establishing telephony events over a cellular network
with a base station; a global positioning system in individual ones
of the mobile vehicles for determining global position from
transmissions from GPS satellites; a network of base stations for
receiving and broadcasting to the mobile vehicles, and for bridging
events between cellular and public switched telephone service
(PSTN) protocol; a network-level routing system connected by first
telephony trunks to the base stations and enabled to retrieve GPS
position from the telephony events; and a plurality of service
centers connected to the network-level routing system by second
telephony trunks. The network-level routing system determines a
destination for individual ones of the telephony events among the
plurality of service centers according to the retrieved GPS
position.
[0018] In preferred embodiments the network-level routing system
further comprises an interactive voice solution (IVS) system for
providing synthesized voice responses to incoming events. Also in
preferred embodiments individual ones of the service centers each
comprise a telephone switching apparatus connected by a computer
telephony integration (CTI) link to a CTI processor for monitoring
a controlling the connected telephone switching apparatus, and the
network routing center comprises a network-level CTI processor
connected to a network-level switch, and wherein the CTI processors
at network and service center level are interconnected by a data
link separate from the second telephony trunks. In some embodiments
data about a call event is stripped at the network-level routing
system and transmitted by the data link separate from the second
telephony trunks to a service center to which the call event is
routed.
[0019] In various embodiments of the invention taught in enabling
detail below, services for mobile vehicles may for the first time
be provided in a specialized way by having local service centers
attuned to the needs of certain areas and for special purposes, and
by routing service call events to specialized centers based on
mobile vehicle location at the time service is requested.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] FIG. 1 is an overview of a mobile device communication
network as known to the inventor illustrating typical routing
points for a call event from a mobile device to a contact
center.
[0021] FIG. 2 is an overview of the mobile device communication
network of FIG. 1 illustrating typical routing points for incoming
voice calls into the contact center of FIG. 1.
[0022] FIG. 3 is an overview of the mobile device communication
network of FIG. 1 illustrating typical routing points for a call
event to a car from a PSTN through the contact center of FIG.
1.
[0023] FIG. 4 is an overview of a mobile device communication
network enhanced with network data control and routing control
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0024] FIG. 1 is an overview of a current-art mobile device
communication-network 9 as known to the inventor illustrating
typical routing points for a call-event from a mobile device to a
contact center. Communication network 9 comprises a Cell network
13, which is in an area that has by in large also GPS coverage, a
connected PSTN network 11, and a communication center 15. Cell
network 13 represents the well-known cellular communications
networks in an area with the well-known GPS system. These two
technologies including their respective infrastructures are
utilized by service communication centers such as center 15 to
track and provide support to fleets of vehicles having both GPS
devices and wireless communication devices installed therein. One
vehicle of such a fleet of vehicles is represented herein by a car
25 illustrated within Cell network 13 and presumably with the GPS
coverage.
[0025] PSTN network 11 may be another type of telephony network
such as a private telephone network as may be known in the art.
Communication center 15, also referred to as a contact center in
the art, represents in this example a national service center that
offers support and service to a fleet of vehicles as was defined in
the background section. Center 15 utilizes PSTN network 11 and Cell
networks 13 to facilitate communication and interaction between
center 15 and an equipped vehicle such as car 25.
[0026] A network bridging (base) station 17 is provided and adapted
in this example to convert wireless cellular calls into PSTN calls
and PSTN calls into cellular calls. This shall be a grossly
simplified view of elements as are well known in the art of
telephony. Further details would obfuscate discussing the present
invention and have hence been left out. Station 17 is equipped with
all of the necessary hardware and software to accomplish this task
as is known in the art. Station 17 has a transceiver/receiver
device 19 connected thereto and adapted to pick-up and transmit
cellular transmissions. Cellular communication from car 25 to
center 15, or from center 15 to car 25 is routed, in this example,
through the PSTN network 11.
[0027] Communication center 15 has installed therein a central
telephony switch 33, which may be an ACD or PBX type switch. Switch
33 is adapted to function as a first destination for inbound call
events originating from such as car 25, or from other sources
within PSTN 11. Switch 33 is CTI (computer telephony integration)
enhanced by a CTI processor 35 connected thereto by a CTI link 37.
Such enhancement provides status and event monitoring of the
switch, and switch function control, such as intelligent routing
control. For example, switch 33 functions in this embodiment as a
private service control point (SCP) with agent/system level routing
intelligence for routing to various points within center 15.
[0028] A modem pool 41 is provided and adapted to strip data from
inbound and outbound call events processed at center 15. Modem pool
41 is connected to switch 33 by an internal telephony trunk 55, and
to an internal, interconnecting local area network (LAN) 49, which
interconnects several internal elements as described below,
including the CTO processor 35. Modem pool 41 represents a second
"data" routing point within communication center 15.
[0029] An interactive voice solution (IVS) machine 43 is provided
and adapted to interact with customer's calls and contacts, and to
process certain aspects of data in incoming calls to synthesized
voice, which may go to an agent or back to a subscriber's vehicle.
IVS 43 connects on LAN 49. In this way IVS 43 is controlled to
respond to call events according to event protocols.
[0030] A front-end communication-center server (CCS FE) 45 is
provided and adapted to process workflow for incoming non-real-time
events. Server 45 is connected to CTI processor on LAN 49 and is
controlled by processor 35. A back-end communication-center server
(CCS BE) 47 is provided and adapted to process workflow for
non-real-time outgoing events. Server 47 is connected to server 45
and also to IVS 43 on LAN 49.
[0031] An agent's telephone 50 is provided at an agent station and
adapted to enable live voice communication between such as car 25
and an agent operating within center 15. Telephone 50 is connected
to switch 35 by internal telephone wiring 51. In other embodiments,
an IP phone may be used connected to a LAN (e.g. LAN 49). A
communication queue 39 is provided in switch 33 for incoming call
events that are waiting for pickup by an available agent such as
one operating telephone 50. It will be apparent to one with skill
in the art that in a service communication center such as center
15, there will be many more agents' telephones than the one
telephone 50 illustrated herein. Moreover, agents may also be
operating local area network (LAN) connected terminals at the agent
stations, such as terminal 52 shown, having graphical user
interfaces (GUI) along with processing and data input capabilities.
Such terminals may be personal computers (PCs) or other adapted
machines.
[0032] It is noted here that the equipment and connections
illustrated within communication center 15 in this embodiment
represent such as apparatus connection and control schemes known to
the inventor and is not yet widely available in the art to be
termed prior art. It will be apparent to the skilled artisan that
there are alternative architectures that might be used for the
interconnection of operational elements in the communication
center.
[0033] As described in the background section, large commercial
fleets, such as trucking fleets, as well as private subscribers
operating private vehicles are facilitated in terms of GPS tracking
and cellular support by a single national communication center.
Such is the case represented here. Because of this only a limited
number of vehicles, perhaps up to a few thousands, may be
adequately serviced without severely straining the resources of a
national center such as center 15. Moreover, routing within a
center such as center 15 may be somewhat complicated depending on
the nature of events and services offered.
[0034] In this example a typical routing path is illustrated for a
call event arriving to center 15 from car 25. Such a call event may
be an automatically triggered data request, a voice/data request,
or a voice call. It is important to note here that the modem
communication between such as modem pool 41 and a modem installed
in car 25 follows such as Analog Display Services Interface (ADSI)
protocols or equivalents. Hence, the connection has two states; one
being a voice connection and the other being a data connection
using an A/B toggle switch at each modem with control afforded to
communication center 15.
[0035] An inbound event is broadcast from car 25, received by
receiver/transceiver 19 and transmitted to station 17 where it is
converted to a PSTN call. Typically, because of the nature of the
subscription service, being highly dependent in many instances on
the location of the vehicle originating an event, data regarding
global positioning is sent with the call event. This data is
available to the system in the vehicle by GPS interface which
operates, as is known in the art, by monitoring transmission from
multiple satellites, represented here by satellites 23 and 24, and
triangulation calculations. In some cases, because, for example, a
vehicle having initiated an event continues to move, the position
has to be updated, which may be done periodically as a function of
the vehicle system, or may be triggered from a remote station. In
any event, the GPS position information is transmitted via the cell
network.
[0036] Once on PSTN 11, the event is routed to switch 29. The event
is then switched to central switch 33 at the communication center
at a first agent-level routing point I over telephony trunk 31.
Routing point I is a private SCP equivalent implemented at center
15. Once the event reaches routing point I, the nature of the event
is determined (ANI/DNIS). In this example, we assume the event is a
data call requiring a non-real-time or automated response, and the
GPS arrives with the call event. Call nature determination and
further routing is controlled by CTI processor 35 running CTI
software adapted for the purpose. It is important to note here that
every inbound event is routed to a routing point II (modem pool 41)
over trunk 55. Routing point II, which is at modem pool 41, strips
the data from the event, including the GPS location of car 25 at
the time of event initiation.
[0037] Also, certain data about the call may be passed to Customer
Client-Server workflow engine Front End (CCS FE) server 45 over LAN
49 for front-end processing. Data about the event passes from
server 45 to Customer Client-Server workflow engine Back End(CCS
BE) server 47 for back-end processing. Processed data, which
reflects the command disposition of the event, passes from server
47 into IVS 43 for processing, if required, into synthesized voice
instruction, which will become part of an outbound event. The Voice
package necessitated is passed to modem pool 41 and an outbound
event is created and forwarded to a routing point III. Hence, an
outbound call event representing a synthesized voice response to
the original request is routed back over trunk 31 into switch 29 in
PSTN 11. The response event is then routed to station 17 over line
27 where it is converted back to a cellular protocol and broadcast
by transceiver/receiver 19 to car 25 where a motorist receives
it.
[0038] Returning to routing point III, if the original event
required or requested a live agent communication, the caller would
either be connected to an available agent at, for example,
telephone 50, or, if none were available, be placed in queue 39. An
agent at telephone 50 will typically have access as well to a
computer station 52 having a video display unit (PC/VDU), and the
system may provide display for the agent related to telephony
events. However, the voice aspect of a live event is not connected
until all data is stripped and processed. Communication center 15,
through server 35, controls the voice/data aspect of each
event.
[0039] Because communication center 15 in this example is a
national center handling all subscribing vehicles nation wide,
events may have to be routed over long distances through PSTN 11 to
a local cell network. Another issue is that one national center
such as center 15 may not be up to date on recent local changes
transpiring in the vicinity of car 25. For example, if the original
request was for a list of local motel vacancies in the immediate
area of car 25, center 15 may not have the recent listings or
information on any new locations just opened for business. If, for
example, the original request was for an emergency towing service,
a national center may not know that car 25 is only a few miles from
a recently opened service and may recommend a more distant provider
causing added expense for the motorist.
[0040] It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that a
communication network, wherein a single national center must
facilitate communication with a nationally spread-out fleet of
vehicles, will have substantial limitations with respect to
providing accurate knowledge of local resources and with providing
routing of events over long distance wired networks.
[0041] FIG. 2 is an overview of the mobile device communication
network 9 of FIG. 1 as known to the inventor illustrating typical
routing points for an incoming voice call into the contact center
of FIG. 1. As the elements involved in this embodiment are
analogous to those described in FIG. 1, reintroduction of such
elements will not be made.
[0042] In this embodiment, we assume that car 25 places a live
voice call for an agent at communication center 15. A voice call is
initiated from car 25 using the voice mode on the associated modem.
Initial call routing is analogous to FIG. 1. For example,
transceiver/receiver 19 picks up the event and passes it into
station 17 where it is converted to a PSTN call. The event is then
routed over trunk 27 to switch 29 in network 11. Techniques
typically using ANI/DNIS cause routing of the event over trunk 31
to switch 33 (SCP). At this point the voice nature of the call is
determined, and the call is routed first to an available agent as a
PSTN-connected call. Notification is given by the agent to the
vehicle operator that he or she requires data communications with
the vehicle and will be placed on hold for reconnection. This may
be accomplished by a voice-synthesized message.
[0043] The event is then routed to routing point II (modem pool 41)
and the agent operating telephone 50 is placed on hold. This
process must be performed so that any data associated with the live
call request may be stripped by modem pool 41 and processed,
including obtaining a read on car location per the GPS system if
necessary. Once the data is processed by servers 45 and 47 as
described above with reference to FIG. 1, the agent at telephone 50
is reconnected to the caller in voice mode. If the agent becomes
unavailable while data is being processed, then the inbound call
event may be routed to queue 39 to wait for reconnection to a
different agent.
[0044] It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that
internal routing wherein the modem at communication center 15 must
be re-linked back into the call flow in order to complete a voice
call is rather complicated and uses significant resources. The
modem at communication center 15 must issue a
dual-tone-multiple-frequency (DTMF) or other suitable non-DTMF tone
to switch the connection-state from voice to data and then back to
voice as is known in the art with ADSI type modem-interfaces.
Moreover, as communication network 9 is identical to the one
described in FIG. 1, the same limitations apply that were described
in FIG. 1.
[0045] FIG. 3 is an overview of the mobile device communication
network 9 of FIG. 1 illustrating typical routing points for a call
event to a car from a PSTN from the contact center of FIG. 1. In
this example as in the example of FIG. 2, elements of communication
network 9 remain the same as previous embodiments and therefore,
will not be reintroduced. The example provided herein represents
the routing path associated with a PSTN call to car 25 in Cell
network 13.
[0046] A call event represented by a vector 30 arrives at switch 29
in PSTN 11. ANI and DNIS information indicates that the event is
destined to communication center 15. It is assumed that in this
embodiment center 15, which is a national center, must facilitate
the call. This is typical of services of the type described in the
background section.
[0047] Event 30 is routed from switch 29 over trunk 31 to switch 33
at communication center 15. Because it is a conventional PSTN call,
it may be routed directly to an agent (routing point II) such as
one operating telephone 50. The agent operating telephone 50 may
further direct the call based on information supplied by the caller
such as car identification number. In some cases a car
identification number may be part of the call identification data.
Based on the call data and agent input data, event 30 is routed
back to switch 33 as an outbound call to car 25. This employs the
workflow process represented by servers 45 and 47 along with IVS 43
which instructs modem pool 41 to dial car 25. Therefore, a third
routing point is at switch 33, which represents an outbound call in
progress. The agent operating telephone 50 may or may not stay with
the caller during this process. The outbound call is routed back
through PSTN 11, through bridging station 17 and onto car 25
through Cell network 13. When the motorist operating car 25 picks
up; he is connected to the waiting PSTN event.
[0048] It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that
limitations exist with respect to communication network 9 described
in FIGS. 1-3 including routing complexity, long distance costs,
lack of local knowledge to aid motorists, and so on.
[0049] The above FIGS. 1-3 describe a current-art communication
network that uses the GPS system and the cellular network along
with the PSTN to enable national centers such as center 15 to
communicate with motorists and on-board systems that may be
associated with a subscribed car such as car 25.
[0050] A communication network such as network 9 may utilize a
virtual private network (VPN) comprising multiple wireless carriers
and land networks as is known in the art. Therefore, networks 13
and 11 may be assumed to represent multiple wireless and land-line
networks spread over large geographic areas. Even with VPN access,
which limits some long distance charges, routing to one national
center such as center 15 is still complicated.
[0051] FIG. 4 is an overview of a mobile device communication
network 61 enhanced with network data control and routing control
system 63 according to an embodiment of the present invention. New
elements are introduced in this preferred embodiment. Such elements
provide enhancement to overall performance and efficiency for the
entire system.
[0052] In this example, instead of utilizing one single, national
communication center to facilitate communication as is illustrated
in current-art examples with reference to FIGS. 1-3, the inventor
illustrates a unique and novel network system 61, which uses
multiple, distributed communication-centers, illustrated herein as
centers 71 and 73, and places data control and voice/data switching
capability at the network level, illustrated by a VID packet 63.
For clarity, not all the elements explained before are shown in the
drawing but may or may not be present in each one of the
centers.
[0053] Communication center 71 comprises a central switch 75, a
modem pool 77, a CTI processor 81, a representative telephone 83,
and a representative PC/VDU 84. The separate elements are connected
through a LAN 86, and a trunk 79 connects switch 75 to modem pool
77. IVS and CCS implementations as shown in communication center 15
of FIGS. 1-3 may be assumed to be present, but are not shown.
Communication center 73 is in this embodiment is identical to
center 71, comprising a central switch 89, a modem pool 91, a CTI
processor 95, a representative telephone 97, a representative
PC/VDU 97, a LAN 100, and a trunk 93. In center 71, switch 75 is
connected to CTI processor 81 by a CTI link 87. Modem pool 77 is
connected to switch 75 by internal telephone wiring 79. Telephone
83 is connected to switch 75 by internal telephone wiring 85. In
center 73, switch 89 is connected to CTI processor 95 by a CTI link
101. Modem pool 91 is connected to switch 89 by internal telephone
wiring 93. Telephone 97 is connected to switch 89 by internal
wiring 99.
[0054] Centers 71 and 73 represent local distributed communication
service centers provided by an enterprise hosting a mainstream
service and therefore may be significantly smaller in size (number
of agents, modems, workstations, etc.) than one large national
center. An object of the present invention is to provide
distributed centers such as centers 71 and 73 to allow for a much
higher service capability (number of vehicles) than is possible
with current art systems.
[0055] VID packet 63 is provided and operates at PSTN network
level. Packet 63 is in this example is an equipment grouping that
handles GPS, voice/data switching, and workflow processing
activity, which was in previous examples provided within a national
communication center such as center 15 of FIGS. 1-3. Packet 63
comprises a modem pool 65, an IVS machine 67, and a CTI processor
69. CTI processor 69 is connected to switch 29 by a CTI link 68.
This connection provides CTI monitoring and control over switch 29
such that it may be used in many enhanced ways, including as a
private SCP. By placing VID packet 63 in the network, GPS location
data may be utilized at the network level instead of from within a
communication center. Voice and data switching and interactive
voice/data control is also performed at network level by modem pool
65 and associated IVS 67.
[0056] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an
inbound call event from car 25 is received at a local bridging
station such as station 17 by way of transceiver/receiver 19 and is
converted to a PSTN call event as was described in previous
examples. It is assumed for this example that the incoming call
event includes data for GPS position. In some embodiments there may
be a function for updating position by automatic pinging back
through the system to the vehicle. The call event arrives at switch
29 over trunk 27 also as previously described. Here the similarity
ends with respect to previously described routing means and data
handling.
[0057] Data from such a call event is passed over data-network
connection 68 to processor 69 in VID packet 63. The call event is
routed to modem pool 65 over trunk 66. Modem pool 65 represents a
routing point I, which is a pre-center routing point. GPS location
data associated with car 25 is accessed by modem pool 65. Data
about the call event is stripped by modem pool 65 and processed by
IVS 67. By utilizing VID capability at the network level, now the
inbound call event from car 25 may be routed to either center 71 or
center 73 (or another call center) whichever is more appropriate.
In many cases the appropriate center will be the closest center to
car 25, and the GPS data may be used to make the routing decision.
An event such as an inbound event sourced from car 25 arrives at
either center 71 or 73 by way of telephony trunk 72 out of modem
pool 65 in the network. Other items may be used in considering the
routing, as are well known in agent skill level routing, customer
requirement routing etc.
[0058] Routing points II illustrated at switch 75 (center 71) and
switch 89 (center 73) are optional routing points depending on
which center will be designated to receive the inbound event. Data
about the inbound event is passed to the appropriate communication
center over a separate data network represented by path 70
connecting processors 69, 81 and 95. Processors 81 and 95 control
further routing, at centers 71 and 73, respectively.
[0059] Now GPS location is available as a determinant in routing to
various call centers. This position information has other novel
uses as well. Data processing and voice/data switching is performed
at network level according to CTI routines for inbound events.
Therefore, the ratio of modems to agents at each center may be
significantly reduced. Call events arriving from anywhere in PSTN
11 may also be handled at network level. Modem pools 71 and 73
handle outbound traffic in normal fashion as well as providing
voice/data switching.
[0060] The method and apparatus of the present invention may be
integrated into existing VPN networks without departing from the
spirit and scope of the present invention. In this way, multiple
wireless carriers as well as land connections may be utilized in
routing. Inbound events are routed intelligently by virtue of
processors 69 (network), 81 (center 71), 95 (center 73), utilizing
a separate data network illustrated by network connections 68 and
70. As a result, inbound routing decisions may be based on a
variety of criteria such as load balancing requirements,
statistical routing, routing according to least expensive path,
routing according to defined service, routing by agent skill, and
so on.
[0061] In one embodiment of the present invention, a wide area
network such as the Internet packet-data network may be utilized
and integrated as a data/voice carrier. For example, an
Internet-based service may be available for owners of subscribed
vehicles to plan such as vacation trips or the like. Such data may
be configured and uploaded to an Internet server and tagged to a
particular vehicle. At the time of the trip the plans can be
included in a series of inbound data calls to such as car 25 from
the Internet. Of course, the appropriate DNT/PSTN bridge is
required in order to interface switch 29 with the source data
events.
[0062] GPS may also be used to trigger portions of a trip plan to
be broadcast to car 25. For example, car 25 reaches a certain point
(GPS location, latitude or longitude as more broad lines along the
planned trip route). Periodic pinging of the GPS system may be used
to approximate the correct location of car 25 along a route. When
such location data closely matches data included in the trip plan,
an automated data call from the Internet carrying the appropriate
data for the matching location would be processed as an inbound
call event to the appropriate communication center. That center
could then generate an outbound data call to car 25 that may
include locations and directions for local motels, restaurants,
banks, supermarkets, camp sites, and so on. There are many
possibilities. Businesses and service providers such as auto
towing, truck stops, rest areas, and the like may advertise to
customers through local centers.
[0063] In some cases, the location of a requested service may
effect network-level routing of an inbound call request. For
example, if during travel, a subscriber such as one driving car 25
requests knowledge of a nearest hospital that provides emergency
services, then a network-level SCP may, after pinging for GPS
position, route the event to a local communication center known to
have knowledge of a name, location and directions to a nearest
hospital that matches the request. Such data would, of course, have
to be known at network level such as by a connected data repository
adapted for the purpose.
[0064] It will be apparent to one with skill in the art that a
communication/service network such as network 61 can provide
service to more vehicles by virtue of utilizing multiple
communication centers than can be handled by a single communication
center. It will also be apparent to one with skill in the art that
such multiple centers as described above can provide more specific
and updated information by virtue of being in close vicinity to the
services requested, and local centers may be specialized to local
services, and so on.
[0065] The methods and apparatus of the present invention may be
practiced over standard Cell/PSTN networks or may be integrated
into a VPN comprising multiple carriers. Likewise integration into
such as the Internet or other WAN or G3-type digital networks is
possible. Therefore, the method and apparatus of the present
invention should be afforded the broadest scope. The method and
apparatus of the present invention is limited only by the claims
that follow.
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